Like most other proud and loyal Washington State University graduates, former Secretary of State Sam Reed is always happy to return to his alma mater and set foot on the hilly campus located in the heart of the Palouse.

Reed had even more reason to be thrilled about his latest trip to Pullman. He delivered the commencement speech at WSU’s graduation ceremony May 4 in Beasley Coliseum. You can watch the graduation ceremony here. Reed’s introduction by Daryll DeWald, the university’s dean of the College of Arts and Sciences, comes at the 49-minute mark, and the speech ends at about the 1:04:40 mark.

During his 14-minute speech, Reed told graduates, family members and faculty about a trade mission to China in which he and the rest of the traveling party arrived at a hotel late one night and Reed greeted the hotel manager with “Ni hao,” which means “hello” in English. The manager’s reply? “Ni hao nothing! How ‘bout them Cougs?!” Turns out the manager was a WSU grad. Reed used the China anecdote to point out to the graduates that the “global network of Cougars is amazing.”

Reed also told the graduates not to do only “well” after leaving WSU but to also do “good” by being caring and engaged citizens.